The Lives of Afghani Women : Has it Always Been This Way? Essay

In Afghanistan, Women’s rights were very denied and completely dismissed. Women were treated horribly. They were beaten, abused verbally, and even killed. Under the rule of the Taliban, women were better off staying in the safety of their own homes.

Today in the post –Taliban era, women still struggle with their rights. Resolutions were produced and rights for women have advanced since September 11th but in order to move forward, much work needs to be done. Hundreds of years of repression for Afghan women will take a lot longer than a few years to actually revolutionize. There is violence towards women that are not practicing traditions customs and fear retaliations from the Taliban. Customs are difficult to change as well as government policies. (Bora Laskin Law). In Afghanistan, religious and cultural values, politics, and an uncertain acting government have played a major part in the struggle for women’s rights.

This furthers the gap between the notion that most non-Islamic people have around the world, which relates to the aspect of vainglory, because in the US, like many countries around the world, women are seen as political figures, physicians, and have simple freedoms. Compared to other ares of the world that contain a predominantly Islamic ethnicity, the rights of women less restricted as they are in Afghanistan. In the US and other countries that allow freedom of religion and expression, the burka is completely optional based on the individuals preference. In order for the Taliban to gain power, they had to convince the public that they were in the best interests of women and not only men. However, the truth is that the Taliban regime has cruelly reduced women and children to poverty, worsened their health by denying them adequate healthcare, and deprived them of their right to an education. In some cases they are denied the right to practice their religion. As a result of these measures, the Taliban was ensuring that women would continue to sink deeper into poverty and deprivation of rights. This would ensure that their future would consist of them having limited skills needed to be considered a civilized individual in modern day

The Taliban’s rules are strict and focus on Islam. There are a lot of restrictions against women. The Taliban treat women harshly with their laws. The stated aim of the Taliban was to “create a

During the mid 90’s, an Islamic fundamentalist group called the “Taliban” took control of central Afghanistan. This sudden regime change caused a catastrophic loss of civil liberties as well as civil disrupt throughout the entire country, causing many surges in Afghani immigrants. Political journalist of “The Taliban: War, Religion, and the New Order in Afghanistan” Peter Marsden, writes about how women in Afghanistan were forced to wear chakri 's in public, and could not leave the home without a male guardian. In afghanistan, women faced many internal barriers that violated their unalienable rights, and this in turn impeded their ability to evade from such violation through

Women are still being isolated today even though a new form of government is in use and has been fifteen years since the rule of the Taliban. “Life as an Afghan Woman” points out that “women are [still] often hidden and isolated. Islamic extremists insist that women and girls stay at home, and can only leave if they are fully covered and accompanied by a male relative.” Most women wear a burqa that completely covers their entire body, showing male dominance outside of the home as well. Women must cover themselves to avoid the possibility of men looking at them in an inappropriate way. Women have to dress in a head to toe burqa for the benefit of men. Also, the fact that girls live with their husband’s extended family often results in them being

Having the right to choose outfits, go shopping, and have fun with friends may seem like normal, everyday enjoyments. This is not the case for women in Afghanistan. For many people, the crisis of women's rights and the Taliban is an unfamiliar topic. It is so foreign, that it may seem unreal. Although it is strange to think about it, it is real, and it is happening to women in Afghanistan.

As odd as the restrictions women had, the punishments for violations were even more unbelievable. To humiliate the women, most of the punishments were available to be seen by the public. The penalties for broken laws were often held public in sports stadiums, town squares, or other densely populated areas for everyone to see. For a minor infraction, oftentimes the one who committed the transgression was often beaten until unconscious. A woman once had her thumb removed because her thumb nail was exposed, and when the Taliban guard saw this, she was taken into the town square to have her exposed thumb taken off. The things that the Taliban do to innocent citizens are cruel, and they should be the ones being reprimanded, not the other way around. In general, many of the punishments that the Taliban give out to women are, in most cases, much too excessive for such insignificant “crimes”. (Delcan Walsh)

The Taliban implemented laws restricting the movements and actions of women in Afghanistan in public places. While attempting to visit her child in a home for young girls, Laila is beaten within an inch of her life as a consequence of walking outside without a male escort (Hosseini). The extreme course of action, beating a woman for walking alone, demonstrates the illogical and unjustifiable actions the Taliban promotes the practice of in Afghanistan. The women and men have dramatically unequal rights.

When Amir goes Kabul has to wear a fake beard in fear of the Beard Patrol will punish him. In the novel, the Pashtuns who are the good Muslims called Sunnis and the Hazara who are the bad Muslims called Shiites. The novel depicts that the Hazaras have been discriminated for dirtying the blood of Afghanistan. In the novel before the Taliban takes over, Pashtuns see Hazara as peasants. Baba even treats Hassan and Ali as second class citizens because of the ways of Afghani culture. The Taliban still kills, prejudices and kidnaps Hazaras who worship Allah. Also, the Taliban discriminates women by making them abide to these harsh rules and treating them as if they’re not even human. In order not attract the opposite sex, women have to wear burkas, a head to toe gown that covers the entire face. On the contrary, the Quran states “O children of Adam, We have bestowed upon you clothing to conceal your private parts and as adornment. But the clothing of righteousness - that is best.” (Quran 7:26) meaning women just have to be modest. Another problem Afghani women have to suffer with is that they can’t talk to men outside of their family. This can cause many problems such as if a woman needs to a doctor it cannot be a man, but The Taliban doesn’t allow girls to go to school which means there’s no women

After Afghanistan was under the control of the Taliban everything changed for everyone, especially women. They forced several rules upon women. One of the most common one is that they must stay hidden and isolated. If they do decide to go out in public

Since the beginning of time, women have had to fight rigorously for basic human rights. In the western stratosphere, those human rights were achieved in the early 20th century, but in a lot of eastern countries the battle for the women is just beginning, or worse hasn't even started. Women in Afghanistan have been subject to heinous circumstances, even though their religion, Islam "demanded that men and women be equal before God,"(Qazi). Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner offers a very insightful view of the governing politics of Afghanistan pre-Taliban regime and during the Taliban regime, and the differing situation of women in both those eras. Based on the book and outside research, it is evident that the situation of women in

Numerous other rules imposed by the Taliban disallowed women from equal opportunity, such as the Taliban’s refusal to provide women access to medical care, their requirement that women must at all times be accompanied by a male chaperone, women prohibition from driving, and women being unable to wear white burqas, white socks, or white shoes, amongst other laws (Invisible 8). Failure to abide by the Taliban rules led to harsh, and sometimes barbaric, punishments. Subsequently, these irrational rules left widespread feelings of anxiety, depression, and hopelessness among Afghan women

When the Taliban was running the government, women encountered more problems in the field of health. Health care statistics for Afghan women are among the lowest in the world, the Taliban also imposed rules attaching to how women achieve medical attention in 1997, hospitals were closed to women, and Women could only go to a clinic. Taliban regime started systematically enforcing a previously ignored policy segregating male and female medical patients into different hospital in September 1997. All female hospital is personnel including physicians’ nurses, pharmacies, and technicians were prohibited from working in 22 hospital in Kabul. Then men and women must remain segregated in hospitals. This is a discrimination against women

The Mujahideen, an extremist group based on the tact of Jihad, soon rips these simple human rights away from all women by taking control of Afghanistan and bringing constant warfare to the country disabling both female and male children from attending school: “The streets became so unsafe that Babi did an unthinkable thing: He had Laila drop out of school.” (Hosseini 177). This furthers the pattern of a downward spiral in the condition of everyday life for females, especially as the Taliban seize power from the weakened Mujahideen and uses their newly found power to enforce strict laws and regulations discriminating against women. Women, therefore, abide by not being educated and by following strict appearance and garment rules that restrict them from individual and personal expression as well as any chance of economic